The Serer-Noon also called Noon (sometimes spelt ''Non'' or ''None'') are an ethnic people who occupy western
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
. They are part of the
Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. though they do not speak the
Serer-Sine language natively.
Territory
They are found primarily in Senegal in the region of
Thiès
Thiès (; ar, ثيس, Ṯyass; Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St-L ...
in areas like
Fandène
Fandène ( Serer : Fanđan, or Fandane or Mbel Fandane) is a small village in Senegal about 7 km from Thiès. It is inhabited by the Serer people.
History
Fandène or Fandane was one of the villages of the precolonial Serer Kingdom of ...
,
Peykouk, Silman, Diankhène and
Dioung.
[ Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité sérères : l’exemple de la région de Thiès", Éthiopiques, no 54, vol. 7, 2e semestre 199]
/ref>
As well as being present in Senegal, they are also found in the Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
.
Population
In the Thies area alone, their population is 32,900. Collectively, the Serer people make-up the third largest ethnic group in Senegal.
History
In his Sketches of Senegal (1853), Abbé Boilat described them as "the most beautiful black people... tall and beautiful posture... who are always well dressed, very strong and independent" During the 19th century muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
marabout
A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Sah ...
jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
s in Senegambia
The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...
, the Serer-Noon resisted being islamized
Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurre ...
and continued to practice their beliefs to present.
In the 1860s, Pinet Laprade, then the French governor of Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
, and Captain Vincent described the Serer-Noon men as "fierce and cruel to foreigners" (the French). They only traded with other Serers through barter and resented the authority of foreigners. Of all the Senegambian
The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...
ethnic groups, the Noons were among the most independent during the colonial period. The Noons also refused to pay taxes to the French administration of Senegal in the 19th century and launched many wars and massacres against the French. To force the Serer-Noon to pay tax to the French administration in Senegal, sometimes violence was used against them. In Noon country, their heads of state were the Lamane
Lamane or laman (also ''laam'' or ''lam'') means "master of the land" in the Mandingue, Wolof, and Serer languages. The name was also sometimes the title of chiefs or kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day S ...
s. The Lamanes managed the Noon towns and villages, and each village was an independent republic. The Lamanes in Noon country were the oldest men chosen from particular families. Although these Lamanes should not be confused with the ancient Serer Lamanes (the old powerful kings and landed gentry), the Lamanes in Noon country were very powerful during the colonial period.
Culture
The Serer-Noon are mostly farmers who grow millet, peanuts, cotton etc. They tend to follow monogamy
Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyga ...
. Like many of the Serer group, the Noons rarely marry out. They usually marry among themselves or other groups of the Serer race, but rarely outside the Serer group. Noon culture forbids mix-marriages. Where a young Serer-Noon has left his or her village for more than three months, on their return, they were subjected to prove their sexual purity. The head griot would offer them a beverage that they must drink. If vomit after drinking it, they were found guilty and sentence to celibacy
Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both, usually for religious reasons. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the ...
. This test was just one of many tests carried out by the head griot. The head male griot would test the young man whilst the head female griot would test the young woman.
Language
They speak the Noon language
Noon (''Non, None, Serer-Noon, Serer-Non'') is a Cangin language of Senegal spoken in the Thiès region (14°47'0"N / 16°55'0"W). There is an estimated population of 10,000''-'' 50,000 speakers worldwide, rendering this language to be vulnerab ...
, which is one of the Cangin languages
The Cangin languages are spoken by 200,000 people (as of 2007) in a small area east of Dakar, Senegal. They are the languages spoken by the Serer people who do not speak the Serer language (''Serer-Sine''). Because the people are ethnically Ser ...
rather than a dialect of the Serer-Sine language. Their language is closely related to Saafi and the Laalaa language
Lehar or Laalaa (in their language) is one of the Cangin languages spoken in Senegal in the Laa (or Lehar) region, north of Thies as well as the Tambacounda area. The speakers (the Serer-Laalaa) are ethnically Serers, however just like the Ndu ...
.
Religion
Like many of the Serer group to which they belong, the Noon were very resistant to Islamization, and still adhere to the tenets of Serer religion
The Serer religion, or ''a ƭat Roog'' ("the way of the Divine"), is the original religious beliefs, practices, and teachings of the Serer people of Senegal in West Africa. The Serer religion believes in a universal supreme deity called Roog ...
. The Serer religion involves cosmology, making offerings to Serer ancestral spirits and saints (i.e. the ''Pangool
Pangool (in Serer and Cangin) singular: Fangool (var : ''Pangol'' and ''Fangol''), are the ancient saints and ancestral spirits of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Pangool play a crucial role in Serer religion and hist ...
'').[ ]Ferdinand de Lanoye
Ferdinand Tugnot de Lanoye (1810–1870) was a French writer.
Life
He was born in Gray, Haute-Saône, to a mother of Danish descent and a father who was a Napoleonic Captain. He studied in Avignon, where his history teacher was Hyacinthe ...
« Voyages et expéditions au Sénégal et dans les contrées voisines »
in ''Le Tour du monde'', vol. 3, 1861, 1er semestre, p. 35Issa Laye Thiaw
Issa Laye Thiaw (1943 – 10 September 2017''Obituary of Professor Issa Laye Thiaw'' : "Our special tribute to Professor Issa Laye Thiaw", by The Seereer Resource Centre, Seereer Radio and Seereer Heritage Press. Published: 11 September 201/ref>) ...
. "La Religiosite de Seereer, Avant et pendant leur Islamisation". Ethiopiques no: 54, Revue semestrielle de Culture Négro-Africaine. Nouvelle série, volume 7, 2e Semestre 1991[ Gravrand, Henry, "La Civilisation Sereer - ''Pangool''", Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Senegal (1990), p 9, 189-216, ] The Noon refer to the supreme being as Kokh Kox
Kokh Kox (or Koh, as pronounced in Noon) is the creator god of the Noon people.Tastevin, C. (R.P.), "La religion des Nones", Études missionnaires, t. II, no 2, avril-juin : 81-100; t. II, no 3, juillet-sep : 176-187. (1933, 1934) The Noon are me ...
(probably derived from the deity '' Kooh'').
See also
Related peoples
*Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group.
*Serer-Ndut people
The Serer-Ndut or Ndut also spelt (''Ndoute'' or ''N'doute'') are an ethnic group in Senegal numbering 38600.
They are part of the Serer people who collectively make up the third largest ethnic group in Senegal. The Serer-Ndut live mostly in cen ...
*Saafi people
The Saafi people, also called Serer-Safene, Safene, etc., are an ethnic group found in Senegal. Ethnically, they are part of the Serer people but do not speak the Serer language nor a dialect of it. Their language Saafi is classed as one of the ...
*Niominka people
The Niominka people (also called Niuminka or Nyominka) are an ethnic group in Senegal living on the islands of the Saloum River delta. They are currently classified as a subgroup of the Serer.
Population
The territory of the Niominka is called ...
*Serer-Laalaa The Serer-Laalaa or Laalaa are part of the Serer ethnic group of Senegambia (Senegal and the Gambia). They live in Laa (var : Lâ), the Léhar Region, which comprises eighteen villages north of Thies and whose inhabitants are Serer-Laalaa. Alth ...
*Palor people
The Palors also known as Serer-Palor, (or Waro in their own language) among other names, are an ethnic group found in Senegal around the west central, west southwest of Thiès. They are a sub-group of the Serer ethnic group found in Senegal, the ...
Notes
Bibliography
* Issa Laye Thiaw
Issa Laye Thiaw (1943 – 10 September 2017''Obituary of Professor Issa Laye Thiaw'' : "Our special tribute to Professor Issa Laye Thiaw", by The Seereer Resource Centre, Seereer Radio and Seereer Heritage Press. Published: 11 September 201/ref>) ...
. ''La Religiosite de Seereer, Avant et pendant leur Islamisation.'' Ethiopiques no: 54, Revue semestrielle de Culture Négro-Africaine. Nouvelle série, volume 7, 2e Semestre 1991
* Henry Gravrand
Father Henry Gravrand (France, 1921 - Abbey of Latrun, Palestine, 11 July 2003) was a French Catholic missionary to Africa and an anthropologist who has written extensively on Serer religion and culture. He was one of the leading pioneers of i ...
. "La Civilisation Sereer" - Pangool
Pangool (in Serer and Cangin) singular: Fangool (var : ''Pangol'' and ''Fangol''), are the ancient saints and ancestral spirits of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Pangool play a crucial role in Serer religion and hist ...
, vol. 2. Les Nouvelles Editions Africaines du Senegal (1990),
* Gravrand, Henry, "Le Symbolisme sereer : Mythe du Saas et symboles", « Revue de Psycho-Pathologie » vol. 9 No 2 Dakar (1971) (Published and reviewed under the title "Le symbolisme serer" nPsychopath. Afric. 1973, IX, 2, 237-265 [in
Psychopathologie africaine
) - (Link retrieved : 21 July 2012)
* Ndiaye, Ousmane Sémou, "Diversité et unicité Sérères: L'Exemple Le de la Région de Thiès", nEthiopiques n°54, revue semestrielle, de culture négro-africaine, Nouvelle série volume 7., 2e semestre (1991) [2] (French)
*Senegambian Ethnic Groups: Common Origins and Cultural Affinities Factors and Forces of National Unity, Peace and Stability. By Alhaji Ebou Momar Taal. 2010
*Gambian Studies No. 17. “People of the Gambia. I. The Wolof with notes on the Serer and Lebou.” By David P. Gamble & Linda K. Salmon with Alhaji Hassan Njie. San Francisco 1985
*Elisa Daggs. All Africa: All its political entities of independent or other status. Hasting House, 1970. ,
External reading
* Ferdinand de Lanoye
« Voyages et expéditions au Sénégal et dans les contrées voisines »
in ''Le Tour du monde'', vol. 3, 1861, 1er semestre, p. 35
* C. Becker
« La représentation des Sereer du nord-ouest dans les sources européennes (XVe-XIXe siècle) »
in ''Journal des africanistes'', 1985, tome 55 fascicule 1-2, p. 165-185
* Ousmane Sémou Ndiaye
« Diversité et unicité sérères : l'exemple de la région de Thiès »
in ''Éthiopiques'', n° 54, nouvelle série, volume 7, 2e semestre 1991
{{Ethnic groups in Senegal
Serer people